Dignan on Canceling Church

Dignan and I are of the same mind on canceling church on Christmas. This is ludicrous. It also makes me question the theology of a lot of the churches that are doing it. Willow Creek, up in Illinois, says it is about “being lifestyle-friendly for people who are just very, very busy.” So, why not just stop having church altogether and put it online or podcast sermons for when people do have time. That’s nuts (and yeah, why does that church have a CEO?).

Let’s get facts straight: We are to honor the Sabbath and one important way of doing that is going to church. We should especially be willing to go to church on the day we set aside to honor the Lord’s birth. Next, what? Canceling Easter services for busy people with family in town?

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Erick Erickson

5 Comments

George Barna writes that by 2025, there will be less than 35% of the population attending church. People will meet in small groups and be part of a revolution for Christ without going into large churches. This is a link to his book “Revolution.” I have not read it, but I saw this on World Net Dailey.

CHECK OUT LINK-CITIZENS LISTEN TO LOUD SPEAKER CALL TO PRAYERS FIVE TIMES A DAY! YEAH, RIGHT HERE IN AMERICA. AT PRESENT, 35% OF THE RESIDENTS IN DETROIT ARE MUSLIMS. I CANNOT FIND ANYTHING CURRENT ABOUT THESE PRAYERS. RESIDENTS WERE UPSET ABOUT THE LOUD SPEAKERS, AND WANTED A VOTE? SO, WE HAVE BIGGER WORRIES THAT A CHURCH THAT PRACTICES CHRISTIANITY CLOSING ON CHRISTMAS DAY.

While I agree with you 97% of the time and I understand the issue you have, I also understand the position of the churches. As an aside, I am a preacher’s kid and my father agrees with your position, so I have had this talk the last 7 year’s I have attended NPCC up in Alpharetta.

We are having three services on Saturday on our normal times. It is going to be very difficult to to have the volunteer staff needed to run services on Saturday, but it will be done. With the thousands (yes, thousands) of volunteers needed to run a mega church each Sunday, it is next to impossible to have a x-mas day service when there are so many people gone. My wife and I lead a small group and volunteer at the church and I can tell you how hard it is to meet this time of year. I have read where you talk about your church, but I have no idea how large it is. To give you an idea of the need for volunteers, we have 7+ classes of 2 year olds in our service – that is 30 + volunteers just for the 2 years old in one of the three services.

I believe that we can fully worship Christ’s birth on the day before x-mas and I also believe there are other great churches in the area if someone wants to worship on Saturday AND Sunday x-mas weekend.

JT,
Given the facts of your situation, that might just be appropriate, but I don’t think that is the situation in every case. And perhaps having reached 30, I’ve really grown old fashion, but it just seems to me that the two times of year people should really be in church, if at no other times, are Christmas and Easter.